Coggins Point Plantation – Hilton Head Island – Beaufort County

— Coggins Point Plantation 1863 • Library of Congress —
(Prints & Photographs Division 2010651623)

Basic Information

• Location – Port Royal Sound, Hilton Head Island, St Helena Parish, Beaufort County
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Colgins Point; Colginse Point

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1762 – Earliest known date of existence (3)
  

  Edmund Ellis and Samuel Green, jointly, were given a royal grant. Edmund Ellis took a portion with Samuel Green retaining the rest which he called Colgins Point (1, p. 415) (3).
  

• 1767 – Samuel Green's will leaves Colgins Point to his daughters Susannah Green and Sarah Green Tucker (1, p. 415).
  

• ? – Sarah Green Tucker became sole owner of the plantation after the death of her sister (1, p. 415).
  

• 1785 – Sarah Green Tucker, now widowed, married William Pope. They had one son together, William Pope Jr, who was known as "Squire" William Pope, inherited Coggins Point Plantation in the early 1800s (1, p. 415).
  

• 1806 – House built by "Squire" William Pope (2).
  

• ? – "Squire" William Pope gave Coggins Point to his son, William John Pope (1, p. 415).
  

• 1852 – William John Pope died leaving two orphaned daughters. The girls' uncle, Joseph J. Pope Jr., took over management of the plantation for his nieces (1, p. 415).
  

• 1861 – The Union Army occupied Coggins Point Plantation, which the Pope family had left unused since 1859, and the house became the chief quartermaster's office and the telegraph station (1, p. 416) (2).
  

• 1927 – Coggins Point remained a military reservation, Fort Walker and Fort Sherman, until the Secretary of War sold it for $12,600. Weiss may have been purchaser (1, p. 416) (3).
  

• 1931 – Landon K. Thorne and Alfred L. Loomis acquired Coggins Point (3).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 806 in 1816 (3)

• Primary crop – Sea Island cotton (2)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – Approximately 200 in the mid-1800s (2)
  

References & Resources

1. Richard Porcher and Sarah Fick, The Story of Sea Island Cotton (Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2005)
   
   

2. Dana E. Byrd with Tyler DeAngelis, Tracing Transformations: Hilton Head Island's Journey to Freedom, 1860-1865
   

3. Heritage Library of Hilton Head Island
   

More about Beaufort County

• Learn more about historic Beaufort County, including the lovely town of Hilton Head as well as Beaufort SC. We have helpful guides to Hilton Head history and Hilton Head libraries and museums - plus Hilton Head restaurants, Hilton Head bed & breakfasts, Hilton Head hotels, and Hilton Head real estate.